The Halcyon Podcast

Allez les nuggets, it's time for France! Les Bleus are defending champions, which if you know your nuggets, isn't a very promising omen. However they have a fair old depth of squad and a long and storied history with the World Cup, so it promises to be an enjoyable ride whatever happens. Rob, Adam and Richard discuss all that and more, welcoming a couple of new patrons to the Roger Milla...

Next up in our Nuggets Daily podcast series is England, a team from whom much is expected at every tournament and who - depending on your relationship with the Nations League - HAVE started to deliver in recent years. Adam, Rob and Richard pick over the chances of Gareth Southgate and his team, who begin with a group that isn't as easy as you might think, particularly given the national side&...

World Cup Nuggets #10 is here and we're previewing Ecuador, a team who always give themselves a pretty good chance of getting out of their World Cup groups. Adam, Rob and Richard share the first spelling-related Nugget of the World Cup and discuss the controversy surrounding 'La Tri''s qualifying campaign. Richard also sets the tenth question of our World Cup quiz which Ad does...

It's World Cup Nuggets Daily Episode 9 and every European's second favourite team Denmark are next to be nuggeted. Adam, Richard and Rob discuss the Danish Dynamite's habitual class and formidable qualifying record, halted only by a Scottish retribution 35 years in the making. Richard sets our ninth (ninth!) quiz question, a real crowd-pleaser for aficionados of football merchandise...

Finalists at the 2018 World Cup Croatia are the focus of today's World Cup Nuggets Daily, which means Adam, Richard and Rob mostly swoon over Luka Modric gliding around the Roger Milla Last Chance Saloon, mineral water in hand. We also assess their chances in Group F (very good), as well as their chances of returning to a second consecutive final (probably not quite as good, but not terrible)...

World Cup Nuggets Daily is back with all the facts and trivia about Costa Rica that you never knew you needed. Adam, Richard and Rob fail to discuss the translation of Costa Rica's nickname, 'Los Ticos', as none of us know what it means (later Googling reveals that it's essentially a term for the Costa Rican people... who knows what terms they'll be using for us if this ep...

It's World Cup Nuggets Daily Episode 6 and that means it's the turn of questionable plurals 'The Maple Leafs' (or, as you and I might refer to them, Canada). Adam, Rob and Richard discuss whether or not they're likely to break their World Cup goalscoring duck, their range of speedy talent and what a luxury it must be to have already qualified for the next tournament as wel...

Run to the corner flag and wiggle your ageing hips, it's Cameroon! Episode 5 of World Cup Nuggets Daily focuses on the Indomitable Lions, including the new Roger Milla, the old Roger Milla and how they're basically going to win the whole thing. Just time too for another question in the World Cup Nuggets quiz - submit your answers at the end of the run of podcasts for a chance to win the...

Episode 4 of World Cup Nuggets Daily tackles the big dogs - Brazil! Most successful World Cup team ever, very strong squad, but, surprisingly, not as many wins in recent history as you might think. Adam, Rob and Richard chew over this and more nuggets about the Seleção and Richard sets the next question in our World Cup quiz - you can see the prospective list of prizes on the Halcyon website , may...

Another day, another nugget, and this time it's Belgium, the World Cup's 'inverted commas' team - a 'Golden Generation', perennial 'nearly men', could 'win' but also 'might not'. Richard, Adam and Rob discuss more nuggets around the Red Devils' tournament history, squad and prospects, Ad comes over very profound indeed and we set the...

It's the second episode of World Cup Nuggets daily, our mini-podcast previewing each of the 32 teams taking part in Qatar.  It's unquestionably a lot of nuggets for two men. Luckily we've got renowned football author and historian Richard Foster to help us, whose new book, World Cup Nuggets (see what we did there?) is a) an indispensable guide to the World Cup's weird, wild and...

It's the first episode of Halcyon’s World Cup Nuggets daily, our mini-podcast featuring a short preview and a ‘nugget’ about each of the 32 teams taking part in Qatar.  That’s a lot of nuggets. But to help us we've got renowned football author and historian Richard Foster, whose new book, World Cup Nuggets (see what we did there?) is a) an indispensable guide to the World Cup's weir...

A mere 509 days since the last podcast, Adam and Rob reunite to provide a few teasers about what the next couple of months have in store on the book and podcast front. In a true sign that they're returning to form, they also forget the end of the alphabet. We'll be back in a few days with the first of our World Cup Daily nuggets with special guest Richard Foster. In the meantime you can...

Adam and Rob are joined by multi-award-winning author and journalist Michael Calvin for a wide-ranging and actually very moving chat about... well, everything really. In this second part, we discuss the cleansing experience of Leicester City and the 2021 FA Cup final, as well as how the club is run and how that reflects on the 'Super League plotters' - remember them?. We also talk in mor...

Adam and Rob are joined by multi-award-winning author and journalist Michael Calvin for a wide-ranging and actually very moving chat about... well, everything really. In this first part, Mike talks to us about his earliest memories of football, being in the privileged position of ballboy at Vicarage Road in his formative years and 4am starts to queue for FA Cup Fourth Round replay tickets (ask you...

Adam and Rob welcome The Guardian Football Weekly’s host Max Rushden, who is still on a high after Cambridge United’s automatic promotion from League 2. Max explains why he was initially reluctant to appear on the pod until promotion was secured considering our remit focuses on glorious defeat and Cambridge were making a complete hash of gaining one point from their last three games. He talks to u...

Adam and Rob are joined by the legendary Patrick Barclay for a joyful journey down memory lane to the famed Dundee side of the early 1960s. Paddy talks to us about how he first fell for football at Dens Park and both the famous title win of '62 and subsequent European Cup campaign, back when the European Cup was for champions ONLY. We also talk to Paddy about his illustrious career in footbal...

Adam and Rob break with tradition to look at current affairs this week, specifically the Premier League 'Big Six''s affair with a closed-shop anti-competitive collective of glorified friendly-seekers. Ahem. They're joined by From the Jaws of Victory contributor and author of ' Can We Have Our Football Back ', John Nicholson, who's written brilliantly on the subje...

Adam and Rob are joined by the author of one of the best football books ever written, Pete Davies, whose book, All Played Out, so perfectly summed up the many highs and some lows of following England at Italia ‘90. This episode is all the more pertinent given the events of the past few days, as we discuss a time when the Premier League was merely a glint in Rupert Murdoch’s eye, when Gazzamania wa...

Adam and Rob are joined by Neil Atkinson of the Anfield Wrap to discuss his brilliant From the Jaws of Victory chapter on the Liverpool side of 2013-14 and much more besides. We cover the various contributing factors to Neil's chapter being such an emotional punch in the face (in a good way) and the impact of 2013-14 on Liverpool's 2018-19 (very) near miss and their 2019-20 title victory...

Adam and Rob break with tradition by welcoming two guests onto the pod to tell the tale of West Ham’s remarkable 1985-86 season. They are joined by Stuart Fuller, author of two Football Tourist books, former football blogger and current chairman of Lewes FC, to discuss his chapter in From the Jaws of Victory and what it was like to be a fan during that famous season for the Hammers. Adding colour...

Adam and Rob are joined by broadcasting and football legend Barry Davies for a chat covering everything from the great man's commentating career to VAR and Monday Night Football. Barry talks to us about notable World Cup stories and his first assignments in 1966, as well as the Euros in 1996, Gazza, and his favourite tournaments, stories and performances. We ask Barry how on earth he managed...

Adam and Rob are joined from Berlin by the brilliant Uli Hesse, writer at 11 Freunde and author of - among other things - Tor! The Story of German football and Building the Yellow Wall. We discuss the nature of glorious defeat in Germany in relation to both the national team and Uli's club, Borussia Dortmund, as well as the relatively late-blooming Bundesliga and the remarkable fact that West...

Rob and Adam are joined by renowned football writer Marcela Mora y Araujo for a thoroughly enjoyable chat about her chapter in From the Jaws of Victory - the Argentina national team in a period of contrasting fortunes from 2006-2014, dubbed 'the Messi years' (by us) despite the Messi years being demonstrably not over yet. We cover World Cups and Copa Americas, the philosophical question...

This week, Adam and Rob welcome minute-by-minute pioneer, author and Guardian stalwart Scott Murray to the pod to shine a light on the Matthews final in 1953, including whether Blackpool’s 4-3 win over Bolton should actually be named after hat-trick hero Stan Mortensen instead and how you might go about getting your name on a cup final anyway. We cover the role of television and the coronation in...